Check if you can claim a waiver for goods brought into Northern Ireland
You may be able to claim a waiver for goods brought into Northern Ireland so that you do not have to pay duty on those goods.
Applies to Northern Ireland
To claim a waiver so you do not have to pay duty on goods you bring into Northern Ireland from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) or countries outside the UK and EU, youāll need to check:
- non-customs de minimis state aid youāve received outside of the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme
- de minimis state aid youāve received as part of the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme
De minimis state aid could include subsidised contracts, loans or grants from organisations like Invest NI and NI Direct.
If you do not have experience in customs or would like to find out more information, theĀ Trader Support ServiceĀ can support you with this process.
Who can claim
You can claim as a business as part of a āsingle undertakingā.
Your de minimis state aid allowance applies to all parts of your organisation involved in bringing goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain or from outside the EU. This may include more than one business. This group of businesses is known as the āundertakingā. An undertaking could be a sole trader, a company, a partnership, or any combination of these.
If you are a sole trader, you still need to create a single undertaking if you wish to claim a Customs Duty waiver. If there is more than one business within the undertaking, youāll need to decide which business will be the undertaking administrator (lead). The undertaking administrator is responsible for managing the online account and reporting non-customs de minimis state aid youāve received outside of the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme.
When you can claim
You can claim a waiver for duty on goods which might otherwise be charged āat riskā tariffs if you:
- have not exceeded the allowances at the point your import declaration is submitted
- will not exceed the allowance for your sector by making a claim
You can claim for goods you bring into:
- Northern Ireland from Great Britain
- Northern Ireland from countries outside of the UK and the EU ā in this case, you claim a waiver for the difference between the UK and the EU tariff
Checking youāre within your allowance
De minimis state aid awards for undertakings in the āotherā and āagriculturalā sectors are calculated over a rolling 3-year basis.
This does not apply to the āFisheries and Aquacultureā sector where de minimis state aid must continue to be calculated on a 3 tax year basis.
The maximum allowances for each sector are:
- 30,000 euros over 3 tax years for the fisheries and aquaculture sector
- 50,000 euros over a 3-year rolling periodĀ for the agricultural primary production sector
- 300,000 euros over a 3-year rolling period for all other sectors
The maximum allowance includes all de minimis state aid you claim over a period of 3Ā rolling years or tax years ā dependent on which sector your undertaking falls under. This includes de minimis state aid which is not related to Customs Duty, such asĀ Employment Allowance.
If a business in your undertaking is involved in more than one sector where a lower allowance applies, the lowest allowance will apply for your whole undertaking.
De minimis state aid could include subsidised contracts, loans or grants. If you are unsure if an aid you claim is counted as de minimis state aid you should contact the granting authority.
By claiming a waiver for Customs Duty, you are making a legal declaration that your claim will not result in you exceeding the allowance for your sector.
A business is eligible to claim a waiver for duty because the amount of de minimis state aid they received is below the sector allowance.
Examples of when a business is eligible to claim a waiver
Example 1 ā sector: other
Claim date:Ā 5 February 2025
Customs Duty waiver claim amount:Ā ā¬25,000
Relevant period:Ā Review all de minimis aid received from 5 February 2022 to 4 February 2025
Previous de minimis state aid received during this period:
- 10 March 2022: ā¬80,000 in Customs Duty waiver + ā¬10,000 non-customs de minimis state aid
- 25 July 2023: ā¬100,000 in Customs Duty waiver
- 15 January 2025: ā¬50,000 in Customs Duty waiver
Total previous de minimis state aid:Ā ā¬80,000 + ā¬10,000 + ā¬100,000 + ā¬50,000 = ā¬240,000
Cumulative total with new award:Ā ā¬240,000 + ā¬25,000 = ā¬265,000
ā¬265,000 is below the ā¬300,000 limit. This means that the ā¬25,000 Customs Duty waiver claim can be made on 5 February 2025.
Example 2 ā sector: fisheries and aquaculture
Claim date:Ā 5 February 2025
Customs Duty waiver claim amount:Ā ā¬2,000
Relevant period:Ā Assess all de minimis aid received in the current and preceding 2 tax years.
Previous de minimis state aid received during this period:
- tax year 2022 to 2023: ā¬5,000 in Customs Duty waiver
- tax year 2023 to 2025: ā¬2,000 in Customs Duty waiver
- tax year 2024 to 2025: ā¬500 in non-customs de minimis state aid + ā¬500 in non-customs de minimis state aid
Total previous de minimis state aid:Ā ā¬5,000 + ā¬2,000 + ā¬500 + ā¬500 = ā¬8,000
Cumulative total with new award:Ā ā¬8,000 + ā¬2,000 = ā¬10,000
ā¬10,000 is below the ā¬30,000 limit. This means that the ā¬2,000 Customs Duty waiver claim can be made on 5 February 2025.
Examples of when a business is not eligible to claim a waiver
Example 1 ā sector: other
Claim date:Ā 23 March 2025
Customs Duty waiver claim amount:Ā ā¬25,000
Relevant period:Ā All de minimis aid received from 23 March 2022 to 22 March 2025
Previous de minimis state aid received during this period:
- 30 April 2022: ā¬100,000 in Customs Duty waiver + ā¬20,000 in non-customs de minimis state aid
- 25 July 2023: ā¬110,000 in Customs Duty waiver
- 15 January 2025: ā¬60,000 in Customs Duty waiver
Total previous de minimis state aid:Ā ā¬100,000 + ā¬20,000 + ā¬110,000 + ā¬60,000 = ā¬290,000
Cumulative total with new award:Ā ā¬290,000 + ā¬25,000 = ā¬315,000
ā¬315,000 exceeds the ā¬300,000 limit. The ā¬25,000 Customs Duty waiver claim cannot be made as it would breach the de minimis threshold.
Example 2 ā sector: fisheries and aquaculture
Claim date:Ā 23 March 2025
Customs Duty waiver claim amount:Ā ā¬2,000
Relevant period:Ā Assess all de minimis aid received in the current and preceding 2 tax years (that is, tax years 2022 to 2023, 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025)
Previous de minimis state aid received during this period:
- tax year 2022 to 2023: ā¬15,000 in Customs Duty waiver
- tax year 2023 to 2024: ā¬10,000 in Customs Duty waiver
- tax year 2024 to 2025: ā¬3,000 in Customs Duty waiver + ā¬1,000 in non-customs de minimis state aid
Total previous de minimis state aid:Ā ā¬15,000 + ā¬10,000 + (ā¬3,000 + ā¬1,000) = ā¬29,000
Cumulative total with new award:Ā ā¬29,000 + ā¬2,000 = ā¬31,000
ā¬31,000 exceeds the ā¬30,000 limit. The ā¬2,000 Customs Duty waiver claim cannot be made as it would exceed the de minimis threshold for fisheries and aquaculture.
Before you claim
You must subscribe to HMRCās online service so that you can register your undertaking.
To subscribe, youāll need to:
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Get an Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (EORIĢż²Ō³Ü³¾²ś±š°ł), unless you already have one. Youāll also need theĀ EORIĢż²Ō³Ü³¾²ś±š°ł of any other business in your undertaking. If you do not have anĀ EORIĢż²Ō³Ü³¾²ś±š°ł, the online service will take you through the process of getting one.
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Give HMRC your company email address. Youāll need to do this for verification purposes.
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Have sign in details. If you do not have sign in details, you can create them the first time you subscribe.
The EORI number must be the one linked to the sign in details you used when you got an EORI number.
Registering a single undertaking
After subscribing to the online service, youāll need to register your undertaking. This will make theĀ EORIĢż²Ō³Ü³¾²ś±š°ł you subscribed with the undertaking administrator.
Youāll need to tell us which industry sector your undertaking is involved in.
If you operate in more than one sector, you should select the sector which best fits the goods you normally move or intend to move under the scheme.
The service was updated in December 2025 to require undertakings to select a specific sector that applies to their undertaking.
This is in line with theĀ .
If you have not yet done this, you will be asked to when you sign in.
If you do not select a specific sector, your undertaking will not be able to use the waiver until you do so.
Find out aboutĀ reporting payments and viewing your allowance for non-customs state aid and Customs Duty waiver claims.
After registering, youāll need to add details of the businesses within your undertaking to your account. Youāll then be given an account reference number.
If you are in a VAT group, you should add all the businesses that are in that VAT group to your undertaking.
To do this youāll need the following details for each business:
- EORIĢż²Ō³Ü³¾²ś±š°ł
- contact details
The undertaking administrator must use the online service to tell HMRC about changes to any of the businesses within the undertaking.
Making a claim
You can make a claim on your import declaration.
You can make a claim where you have paid EU duty on āat riskā goods in the past 3 years.
You can also make a claim where you have underpaid EU duty on āat riskā goods to cover the outstanding EU duty.
Find outĀ how to claim a waiver.
Related guidance
Find out about the other ways toĀ bring your goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain without paying duty.
Updates to this page
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Information in the 'Checking youāre within your allowance' section has been amended, because the Customs Duty Waiver online service been updated to display de minimis state aid usage over a rolling 3 year period.
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The date when you must update the sector of your undertaking in the digital service has now passed. If you have not yet done this, you will be asked to when you next sign in.
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The date when you must update the sector of your undertaking in the digital service to continue using the waiver has changed from before 1 January 2026 to before 31 December 2025.
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Information about updating your undertaking sector in the digital service before 1 January 2026 has been added.
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The dates when a business is both eligible and not eligible to claim a waiver have been updated.
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The dates when a business is eligible to claim a waiver have been updated. The total de minimis state aid when a business is not eligible to claim a waiver has also been updated.
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The Customs Duty waiver limits have been updated.
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First published.